A Raft Pilot's Log cont. Some of the Men Prominent in the Rafting Industry, 1840-1915 245 CAPTAIN ROBERT DODDS I started to write something about this man who held high place in the esteem of his employers, his crew and his fellow pilots, when it came to me that a man who had been closely associated with Captain Dodds for many years had written an article published in the saint Louis 'Waterways Journal' about him soon after his death. Mr. Harris has kindly furnished me a copy of that letter, describing Captain Dodds correctly. It is much better than I could have done. Chicago, July 27, 1903 Gentlemen: In your issue of July 25, a five-linednotice tell the world of the death of captain Dodds, a retired steamboat officer,who was found dead at his home on Thursday, July 23rd, and that his death was due to heart failure, hence sudden. The meagre notice conveys but an inadequate idea of the peculiar position that the late Captain Dodds, held in the army of steamboat men, for what Edwin Booth was to the stage, Charles Dickens to literature, Darwin to science or Beecher to theology, Robert Dodds was to the pilot's profession, holding a distinct and peculiar position. It would be somewhat difficult doubtless, to define his true status or to explain why he held such an honored place in the realm of steambaot officers. Captain Robert Dodds, or Bob Dodds, as he was familiarly known, com- menced his river life as a floating raftsman, and becoming a pilot before he had reached his majority. A man of pleasing presence, handsome in appearance, tasty in dress, without being lavish,courteous in manner, pro= ficient in conversation, and lastly, giving to money no apparent value, and being a large money earner at a very early stage, he develped eccentricities of character, if we may use the expression , that established him as a prince of good fellows. Captain Dodds floated rafts for Schulenburg and Boeckeler for a number of years, and with the advent of the steam boat for the purpose of towing rafts, he took charge of the pittsburg towboat, 'Grey Eagle.' After operating this boat for one or two seasons, she turned over at the foot of Stag Island upon the first trip in the spring, Captain Dodds 246 being at the wheel. This was followed by the purchase of the steambaot 'M/Whitmore,' and was followed in turn by the building of the steamers 'Helen Schulenburg,' 'Charlotte Boeckeler,' and 'Robert Dodds,' over which fleet the captain as commodore. About the year 1888 or 1889, the Schulenburag and Boeckeler Company disposed of their steamboat ibterests to Captain John McCaffrey, and for one season, Captain Dodds commanded one of the steamers, which, however, ended his active service upon the river. It was my privilege to have been assiciated with the deceased officer from 1874 to 1886 inclusive, during which time, I necessarily learned to know him intimately, although I could add nothing more in the way of euglogy than has already been said in the earlier part of this communication. Captain Dodds was a magnificent executive officer, one of those few men in the world who could maitain a degree of equality with those under his command, and yet retain to the fullest extent their admiration and esteem. As a commanding offficer, he was a strict disciplinarian, exercising authority, however, with such a warmth of sunshine that men obeyed for the love of obedience rather than from fear of the consequences. Every walk of life is marked by particular exemplifications of the attributes necessary to reach success, and in the pilot's profession there was, during the active career of Captain Dodds, no man who possessed more fully and completely, the high quality required to reach the ends aimed at. Yours very truly, James Henry Harris